1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shorting terminal and to a connector with a shorting terminal and/or with a partial connection detecting function.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,760 and FIG. 10 herein disclose a connector with a shorting terminal. As shown in FIG. 10, the connector has a housing 1 that accommodates a plurality of terminal fittings 2 and a shorting terminal 3. The housing 1 can be connected to a mating housing that has mating terminal fittings. The shorting terminal 3 includes a contact piece 3a that contacts and shorts the mating terminal fittings. The shorting terminal 3 also has pushable pieces 3b that can be pushed by a jig 5. Additionally, the shorting terminal 3 has an abutting portion 3c that can abut against a receiving portion 4 in the housing 1 to restrict a depth to which the shorting terminal 3 is pushed.
The shorting terminal 3 may be mounted into the housing 1 by an automatic machine that stops pushing when the shorting terminal 3 is pushed by a specified stroke.
The pushable pieces 3b and the abutting portion 3c are spaced apart and are formed at separate operation steps in the production process. Thus, there is a high chance that front and rear positions of either the pushable pieces 3b or the abutting portion 3c will deviate from specified positions due to manufacturing tolerances. Such a deviation may cause the shorting terminal 3 to be mounted before a proper position. Alternatively, the shorting terminal 3 may be pushed excessively. Thus, the pushable pieces 3b may be deformed even though the automatic machine pushes the shorting terminal 3 by the specified stroke. In addition, the jig 5 may deform and incline the pushable pieces 3b. 
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-170629 discloses a connector with a partial connection detection function. This connector has male and female housings that are connectable with each other. A substantially tubular slider surrounds the female housing, and springs are provided between the female housing and the slider. The female housing and the slider fit into a receptacle of the male housing. A resilient displacing portion in the receptacle pushes the slider back and compresses the springs. Biasing forces of the springs are released and separate the housings if a connecting operation is interrupted halfway. As a result, partial connection is prevented. The resilient displacing portion is displaced resiliently and disengaged from the slider if the housings are connected. Thus, the slider is moved forward by the biasing forces of the springs, and simultaneously the resilient displacing portion engages a lock.
This connector has a retainer for locking female terminal fittings in cavities of the female housing. The retainer is mounted in the female housing for movement along a widthwise direction between a partial locking position and a full locking: position. Locking sections of the retainer are retracted from the cavities when the retainer is in the partial locking position. Thus, the female terminal fittings can be inserted into the cavities and withdrawn from the cavities. On the other hand, the locking sections enter the cavities when the retainer is in the full locking position to lock the female terminal fittings. The retainer at the partial locking position projects out from the outer side surface of the female housing and interferes with the slider. However, the retainer at the full locking position is flush with the outer side surface of the female housing and does not interfere with the slider. Accordingly, the two housings cannot be connected when the retainer has not reached the full locking position and partial insertion of the retainer can be detected.
A projecting amount of the detector from the outer side surface of the female housing gradually decreases as the retainer approaches the full locking position. Thus, the slider may be able to move backward immediately before the retainer reaches the full locking position. As a result, a situation where the female terminal fittings are locked incompletely by the retainer may be overlooked.
In addition, a clearance is defined between the female housing and the slider to smooth movement of the slider. Thus, it is difficult to prevent a backward movement of the slider immediately before the retainer reaches the full locking position.
The invention was developed in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to improve operability of the connector.